Musiala heads to World Cup on fine form with Germany

Bayern's Jamal Musiala passes the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (AP)
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Updated 15 November 2022
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Musiala heads to World Cup on fine form with Germany

  • Musiala lets his game do the talking and is generally affable and modest in interviews
  • Born in southwest Germany to a Nigerian father and a German mother, Musiala spent almost a decade of his childhood in England

DUSSELDORF: One of Germany’s top players at the World Cup in Qatar could easily have been in the England squad.

Bayern Munich’s attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala represented England at junior level before finally opting for Germany last year after being persuaded by then-coach Joachim Low.

Musiala underlined his case for a starting role at the World Cup with a crucial role in Bayern’s 2-0 win over Schalke on Saturday.

Making his 100th appearance for the club at the age of 19, Musiala assisted both goals, one with a backheel pass to Serge Gnabry. His individual skill was on show when he dribbled past two defenders and rounded the goalkeeper, even if the goal was disallowed for offside.

Among Musiala’s admirers is 1990 World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthaus, who urged Bayern to put him at the heart of the team for years to come, like Barcelona did with Lionel Messi for over a decade.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann praised Musiala’s “quick and lively feet” and suggested his fast footwork sometimes made hard work look like good fortune, with the youngster always seeming to be first to a rebound.

Musiala lets his game do the talking and is generally affable and modest in interviews. “It was important that we got the three points to go with a good feeling going into the World Cup break,” was his take on his game-winning show against Schalke.

”I think for the first half of the season we did good. We had bad phases but I think to finish off the season strong is good.”

Born in southwest Germany to a Nigerian father and a German mother, Musiala spent almost a decade of his childhood in England. He was a youth player first for Southampton, then Chelsea, until signing for Bayern in 2019 at the age of 16.

When the coronavirus pandemic extended the season in June 2020 he made his debut to become Bayern’s youngest Bundesliga player ever, three months after that he was the club’s youngest Bundesliga scorer.

The coach who gave Musiala his first-team chance back then, Hansi Flick, is now his coach for Germany. After Low persuaded the teenager to commit to Germany and gave him his first senior internationals, Flick has made him a first-team regular, playing in the last eight games in friendlies and the Nations League.

One quirk of Musiala’s burgeoning international career is that of his 17 games for Germany, three have come against England — the team he could have played for instead.


Liverpool rocked by last-gasp defeat at Wolves

Updated 04 March 2026
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Liverpool rocked by last-gasp defeat at Wolves

  • Liverpool’s first defeat in five games in all competitions will raise fresh questions about Slot’s Anfield future

LONDON: Liverpool suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolves as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the Premier League’s bottom club on Tuesday.
Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux.
Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November.
But Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool.
It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017.
Liverpool have conceded 14 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, with only Newcastle shipping more in the same period in the Premier League.
The Reds remain fifth but their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League have been hurt by a defeat that means sixth-placed Chelsea will go above them if they beat Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Liverpool’s first defeat in five games in all competitions will raise fresh questions about Slot’s Anfield future.
This was the first of Liverpool’s two trips to Molineux in the space of four days, with an immediate chance for revenge in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday.
Slot this week said he no longer finds Premier League matches a “joy to watch” due to the rise in set-piece goals, and Liverpool supporters took no pleasure from this dismal performance.
Wolves and Liverpool fans joined in a sustained round of applause on 18 minutes in memory of Diogo Jota, who wore that shirt number during his time at Molineux before joining the Reds.
Portugal forward Jota died in a car crash in Spain last year.

Crest-fallen Slot

That emotional tribute seemed to suck the energy from both teams in a scrappy first half.
Liverpool were punished for their lethargy in the 78th minute.
Tolu Arokodare got away with a nudge on Virgil van Dijk to win the ball before playing a superb pass to Rodrigo Gomes, who held off Ibrahima Konate and guided a clinical finish past Alisson Becker.
Liverpool finally awoke from their slumber after that shock, grabbing an equalizer in the 83rd minute with a helping hand from Wolves.
Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was guilty of a woeful pass that Salah intercepted, racing into the area for a shot that eluded Jose Sa’s weak attempted save.
Salah has scored just eight goals — five in the league — during a turbulent season.
Liverpool were still creaky at the back and Andre pounced on Alisson’s poor clearance four minutes to steal the points in stoppage-time.
Andre’s powerful strike deflected off Liverpool defender Joe Gomez and looped over the wrong-footed Alisson as Wolves boss Rob Edwards sprinted down the touchline in a wild celebration while Slot looked on crestfallen.
Wolves are 11 points from safety with eight games left and relegation remains almost certain despite this memorable victory.
Everton ended their dismal home form and pushed Burnley closer to relegation with a 2-0 win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Buoyed by their 3-2 win at Newcastle last weekend, Everton dispatched second-bottom Burnley with their first win in eight home league matches.
Former Burnley defender James Tarkowski put Everton in front with a powerful header from James Garner’s 32nd minute free-kick.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall doubled Everton’s advantage on the hour taking Iliman Ndiaye’s pass and clipping a composed finish past Martin Dubravka from six yards.
Everton remain in contention for a European berth, while Burnley are eight points from safety with just nine games left.
Habib Diarra’s penalty fired Sunderland to a 1-0 victory against Leeds on their first Premier League visit to Elland Road since 2002.
Bournemouth and Brentford shared a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium that did little to improve either side’s hopes of qualifying for Europe.